Al-Shabaab now demand $1.5 million ransom for Cuban doctors

By Fauxile Kibet

Suspected Al- Shabaab militants who are holding two Cuban doctors, who were kidnapped at Mandera in Kenya, are now demanding $1.5 million to secure their release.

The demands were communicated through elders who had been engaging in dialogue with the kidnappers with the intention of securing their safe release.

The Cuban doctors, Herera Corea and Landy Rodriguez are suspected to be held in a remote area between Buale and El-Ade towns in Jubaland region of Somalia.

Reports by the elders from Mandera and Bulahawo in Somalia who have been negotiating for their release indicate that the two are alive, and are offering treatment to the community in a restricted location.

“They seem to be under the care and offering medical care services to the locals,” said a security official who spoke to journalists said, quoting the elders.

However, no official communication from the Kenyan government regarding the wellbeing of the two doctors has been released.

The abducted doctors are among 100 Cuban specialists who arrived in the country in June 2018. They were abducted on their way to work from home in Mandera County on April 12, 2018.